By Dr. Curtis Varnell
Churches and religious faith have always been an important facet of life for people of Arkansas. Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist missionaries were some of the first people to move into the region. Many of these arrived to minister to the Indian population years before white man arrived in the area. Dwight Mission (Methodist) was established just west of Russellville to convert and educate the Cherokee. Native Americans often named the various denominations by their most noticeable aspects. The Methodists- known at that time for their fiery demeanor and sermons were called the Loud Talkers.
Baptists, known as dunkers because they practiced immersion baptism, soon arrived in the state and quickly became the largest denomination. Southern Baptists today still have more members than any other Protestant denominations in Arkansas.
The term Holy Roller came into being early in the 20th century with the formation of the Pentecostal movement which included the Pentecostal Church of God, Jesus Only, Holiness, Assembly of God, and the Apostolic Church of God. The movement started as an outgrowth of a 1906 revival in Los Angeles. Adherents, emphasizing the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and healing, saw themselves as the third Great Awakening. The movement spread across the U.S. with a hot bed of adherents in Arkansas. By 1912, they were conducting revival services in Russellville, Paris, Booneville, Greenwood, and in many of the small communities across the state.
The Assembly of God denomination was formed during a 1914 meeting held near the Mountain Valley water headquarters in downtown Hot Springs. The Rev. E.R. Fitzgerald preached throughout the region and established many of the churches that became charter members of the Assemblies of God.
Early revival meetings were often held in brush arbors or outdoors during the summer time after the crops were planted and growing. A speaker would arrive in the area, set up a stage, and services would be held nightly during meeting that would go far into the night. These nightly services would sometimes continue for weeks and would attract people from throughout the region. Many people came out of religious zeal while others came to watch. Many of the older boys and men would remain outside the arbor during the meetings and would spend their time smoking, gossiping, and sometimes even passing the bottle around the group. Pentecostal services were exciting- new gospel songs were sang with accompanying music from guitars,
piano’s, hand clapping and much enthusiasm. This was followed by preaching- loud passionate preaching accompanied by dramatic movement and prayer. Calls to the altar resulted in tears of passion and rejoicing and speaking in “tongues.” Overcome by the word, people would often jump in joy or run around the encampment, much to the delight of the onlookers. Derisive terms of Holy Roller, Pew Jumpers, and worse were ascribed to the believers.
Today, the Assembly of God has over 62 million adherents worldwide and over 3 million within the U.S. It is the only major denomination founded within the state of Arkansas.
